Sorry that I didn't edit this sooner!
I grew up in Bon Temps, Louisiana. My mother was a very lovely woman, my sister, wasn't as much, my grandmother was the best grandmother any child could have.
My cousins Sookie and Jason, were great to hang around with. Sookie was like me, well kind of like me. She could read minds, I on the other hand had to touch someone, and when I placed my skin on theirs, I could see their whole life. Feel what they've felt in just seconds, almost like becoming the person. I hated it, knowing everything, some things I didn't understand, when I was younger. But, I didn't try to figure it out, I had my own thoughts and memories to trifle through.
These days I only had my memories of my family my lovely family, my sort of dysfunctional family. Why did I only have memories? You might ask, well let me take you back.
Hadley ran to the living room strung out on some kind of drug, like always. I had a feeling it was V this time because of how quick she got there.
"Mom?" I cried out to my mother, whom was lying face down on the floor. "Turn her over!" I screamed at Hadley. Hadley shook and had tears around her black eyes as she turned mom over onto her back. The awful paleness of her face made me flinch. I had just gotten home from work when I saw mom lying there.
"She's all stiff." Hadley muttered. "Fuck." I spat and kneeled down to her. I felt her face, tears streamed down my cold cheeks. She was like ice, her blood frozen in her veins, her heart never to beat again. Rigor mortis had set in, she'd been there for a while. I turned to Hadley.
"Where the fuck were you?" I growled her way. Her eyes narrowed and she frowned. "I was up in my room." She mumbled. "You were supposed to be taking care of her!" I shook while I screamed. Hadley looked frightened. I went for her throat. When I got hold of her I saw her having sex with some woman, them taking V together. I felt the high, it was numbing and electrifying.
I heard them laughing, I also heard in the background my mother calling for help. When I resurfaced I gripped her tight. She coughed and gagged, I was so angry, so jilted by my own sister. She pushed me off, V made her strong, she kicked me in the stomach with an amazing force.
The pain kept me still for a good minute. She grabbed the telephone in the kitchen and dialed a number while I got to my feet. "Grand, you got to get down here mom's dead and Ella is trying to kill me!" She cried into the receiver. I pushed the phone to the floor and got a handful of her blond hair. I pulled her down and brought my fist down onto her face. I saw red.
"I hate you Hadley your fucking useless! You killed her!" I felt my knuckles tear as blood stained Hadley's face. The whole time I could feel the pain I gave to her. After the seventh hit I was being pulled off of my sister. I heard Andy Bellefleur. "Girl stop! Now!" I thrashed for all of ten seconds before I saw the lifeless body on the floor through Andy's memory. My mother.
"Now, you sit right down, if you move an inch I'll put these cuffs on ya!" He told me, and sat me down on the kitchen chair next to the phone. Tears fell and I shook my head trying to stop everything, but it went on. Life left my mother behind, not halting for the smallest second.
Andy bent down to Hadley she was wiping the blood off of her face. She sat up and gave me the finger. I looked away. Her face was hardly hurt. "Can you stand?" Andy asked her. "Yeah." She said and I suppose she did, I wasn't watching, I couldn't.
Then I heard my grandma, and my cousins. Grandma Adele came in, her face fresh with tears, Sookie was frowning and shaking her head, Jason doing the same. Sookie could hear me, I knew she could, she came to sit beside me. She placed her hand on mine, she was recalling how she found out that her parents were dead.
"Honey, are you alright?" Gran asked me. I stood and hugged her hard. "Hadley was here, she was supposed to look after her." I cried, gran understood, I could feel it. "Jason, take Ella home." She said to him, he nodded and waited for me.
When we got to the truck I got in and shut the door. Jason walked around and got into the drivers seat. It started to rain as we drove down the bumpy dirt roads. "You okay over there kid?" He asked me, I rubbed my face. "Not really." I said quietly. "It'll all get better." He told me, and he must of known.
His parents both died when he was quite young. I wiped my eyes of tears and sniffed. I was done crying. "I hope so." I mumbled about the time that we pulled up to grandma's house, the white two story house that was on it's own large piece of land.
Jason jumped out and came around to my side. I got out and went up to the house. By the time I reached the porch I was soaked. Jason was too, it was raining pretty hard. Jason opened the door and ran to the front hall closet, he pulled out two towels and threw one my way. I caught it and dried myself.
That night I didn't sleep. I called the small antique store I worked at and quit. Grandma told me the next morning at breakfast that it was natural causes. Hadley was in jail for the night for illegal drug possession. Sookie told me that gran would pay for rehab for Hadley, I couldn't care less.
After they ate Sookie took a walk with me, we talked about her job, and how she thought her boss was in love with her. Anything to keep my mind off of my mom. The next day was the same as that one. Then it was my last day in Bon Temps. It was the day of my mother's funeral.
Hadley was there, wearing a very short black dress, looking a little better. "I'm sorry I hit you." I told her, and that was the last thing I said to her. After the service we all walked to the graveyard.
The day was bright and warm, I hated it. As the casket lowered into the ground I got up and left, no one followed. I was okay with that, when I got to grandma's house I packed my bags and called a taxi. When it got there I threw my bags in the trunk and got in the backseat. Then I said good bye to Bon Temps.
Two Years Later
The alarm rang for me to go to work. It was 4am and I had been awake for two hours. I had gotten an hour of sleep which was great, for me at least. I got up and went to my bathroom, I dressed in my diner uniform and fixed my hair. When I was finished I looked in the mirror.
My pale face was thin and lightly freckled. My light brown hair was shoulder length and my bangs were swept to the side. My hazel eyes looked drowsy. I walked out the door of my shitty apartment. I locked up and turned to see a shockingly white man behind me.
After a few seconds I realized it was just Daniel who lived behind the apartments. He was a vampire and had a creepy obsession with me, but he was virtually harmless since he couldn't glamour me. "Hey Daniel." I said, he nodded. "Hello, Miss Ella." He smirked. Daniel was very beautiful, I suppose all vampires kind of are. He met me almost every morning before I left for work. I hadn't seen him in about a week, I thought he had moved on.
"So, I know something about you." He said while he sat on the railing that looked over the parking lot. "What is that?" I asked him while I walked on. He giggled and ran to stand in front of me. "You're from Bon Temps." He smiled at me. "How'd you know that?" I asked him.
"Well, I recently went out there to see my sheriff, stopped by a little bar, there was a girl that smelt just like you. Her last name is Stackhouse too." His cockney accent came out. I rolled my eyes at him and pushed past him.
I got to my beat up little VW rabbit. He was leaning against it all of a sudden. "You know, you really should get in your hole, the sun is about to come up." I told him while I unlocked my driver door.
"Honey when will you realize you want me to bite you?" He asked close to my ear. "Never." I huffed and got in my car. He was standing at my door, I cranked up and he was gone. I sighed out in relief. I hated being hassled by dead guys. It happened enough at the bar.
I put my bag in the backseat and started to Shreveport. In the last two years I moved from New Orleans, to Queensborough, then to Blanchard. I worked two jobs in Shreveport. In the mornings I worked in the diner, and in the evenings I worked at a bar.
The morning was approaching fast. I pulled into the parking lot of Daisy's diner and got out. The back door was open, which meant I was late, again. May popped her head out. "He ain't happy, doll." She called, I shrugged when was Mr. Daisy ever happy?
"I figured as much May." I said and walked into the small hot space. May's makeup was running, I walked to Mr. Daisy's office and knocked on the closed door. He opened it and said two words to me. "You're fired." Then he closed the door. Well. I walked out and left.
When I got back home, I thought about Sookie, and gran, and Jason, and even Hadley. Had they missed me? I had missed them. I dressed in jeans and a long white t-shirt. I'd drive down to Bon Temps, see how everyone was doing. Maybe kick it for a few days, maybe even stay. Just in case I packed all of my things, which wasn't much. I threw my bags in my back seat and started up the car.
The drive wasn't that long but I stopped for gas and snacks about four times, and when I actually reached Bon Temps I stopped at Merlotte's. I could see Arlene working and Sam manning the bar. I saw Lafayette in the kitchen. I got out of my car and went in, feeling pretty hungry. It was about 5 in the afternoon.
When I walked in, I didn't expect anyone to recognize me. I had changed in the last two years. "I'll be with you in a minute honey." Arlene said. "No, I'll take this one Arlene." Sam said, Arlene nodded. Then Sam came my way, he had a smile on his stubbly face. "Hey there. What'll you like?" He asked.
"Actually, I'll take a sweet tea, and um, is Sookie working tonight?" I asked him, he raised his brows at me. "Sookie?" I nodded to answer his question. "Well she has the night off." He said, I nodded. He left and came back with my sweet tea. I took out a ten dollar bill. "No, it's on the house." He said. "Well this is a donation then." I muttered before he gave me a sideways smile and left.
I drank my sweet tea and left a five dollar tip. I knew how hard it was to work in a bar and grill. Sucky tippers made me angry. I got in my car and drove off. The road to Grandma's was as bumpy as always. When I pulled up I saw the house, I felt warm. Butterflies fluttered against the walls of my stomach. I practically jumped out of my car and I ran to the door. I knocked on the door rapidly, Tara answered.
"Hey, Tara." I said, she looked at me for a second. "Ella?" She asked, I nodded. "Wow, you've grown up. A lot." She said, and moved from the door. I walked in to see Sookie standing in the doorway. "Hey Sook." She ran up to me and hugged me tightly. "Hey Ella."
Her neck touched mine and I saw grandma, lying in a pool of her own blood. A man named Rene killed her, Sookie killed Rene. Sam was a shape shifter, Sookie was in love with a vampire named Bill. Jason was blamed for murders, but it was really Rene. Jason found god and went to some camp. Sookie was almost killed by something in the woods only a few nights ago. Another sexy vampire helped her, Eric was his name. There was so much that had happened it knocked me down.
I fell flat on my back, my breath rushed out of me for a short second. When I got back up I looked to Sookie then to Tara. "I'm fine, just kind of overloaded on the information." The shock of Adele's death took me by surprise the most. She was gone, god.
"Well, I gotta go, I'm meeting Marryann for dinner." Sookie nodded and was about to grab my hand. "Don't touch me, please, I don't want to see that again." I said the nicest way I could. "It's okay I understand. Guess I don't have to explain anything then." I shook my head to tell her no.
"She's in heaven now Ell." She said making that face she always did when she was sure of something. I nodded and sat down on the couch. "I missed you guys." I whispered and Sookie sat next to me. "We all missed you too." She said.
"I'm going over to Bill's, you want to come?" She offered. "Your sexy vampire boyfriend's? Of course." I said, she smirked. "Are you driving or am I?" I asked her, she shook her head. "His house is just through the graveyard." We used to walk that way all the time.
This night was a lovely one, the stars filled the sky and the moon was full and shining bright. When we reached the Compton house, it stood tall and dankly. We walked up onto the creaky porch and Sookie just went in. A red headed girl sat on the couch looking pale and bored. She jumped up and I realized she was a vampire.
"Hey Sookie!" She said. "Hey Jessica, this is my cousin Ella." Sookie told her. Jessica turned to me with a smile, we were about the same age, well she was changed at about my age, which was eighteen years old. Bill came down the stairs, and gave Sookie a kiss. "Ella, nice to meet you." He was kind and very handsome, good job Sook.
"Nice to meet you both." I said to both of the vampires. "We need to go see Eric." Bill said, I recalled the tall blond Viking from Sookie's memories. Who was quite sexy. "Can Ella come?" Sookie asked with a small smile at me. "Sure." Then we were on our way to Fangtasia which looked like an awful place from Sookie's memory, only because that's where she had almost died not once but twice.
I felt like I was on a rollercoaster going every which way. I seemed to have came back home on a very busy night. The ride there was almost completely silent until Bill spoke.
"Now, Eric can be quite…irrevocable." He said. "Tell me about it." Me and Sook said together. "So, what Sookie said was true? You can touch someone and see their memories?" He asked. "Well, to put it bluntly, yeah." I said and leaned back in my seat.
When we arrived at Fangtasia I saw the red neon lights reflect off the window. There was a blond woman standing at the front door wearing a trailing black gown. It looked almost cliché for a vampire joint. When we got to the door, I could see the blond woman more closely, she was very pretty. "Pam." Bill spoke to her giving her a nod. "You're here to see Eric." She stated as if she knew for sure. "We're about to close go on in." She stopped me though.
"You smell lovely, how old are you?" She snapped. "I'm eighteen." I said. "Just right, ID?" I took my card out of my pocket. She looked at it. "Ella Stackhouse, go in." She was giving me a creepy smile, one that a guy would give me. I went in after Sookie and Bill.
We sat at a booth for a long while. I watched as the fangbangers scattered to be the last call for drinks. Just begging vampires to take them home and rip their throats out. They made me think of Hadley. After everyone left, Pam walked up flashing a malicious grin. She was very pretty, but seemed to be quite the opposite, attitude wise.
When Eric came into the room everyone knew it, there was an aura about him, he was masterly. I could feel my face flush of all color when he looked straight at me.
"Hello." He said, I tried not to stare. "Who's this?" Eric asked Pam, she chuckled. "This is young Ella Stackhouse. Sookie's cousin." She huffed the last part. I looked at him then, really made eye contact. It was so intense that I didn't even realize he was moving to touch my hand.
When he did everything was kind of blurry, I felt cold, strong, and hungry. There were small lifeless flashes of blood running down pure white skin, baby blue irises twitching as their owners died. It was awful. I drew back hitting my head on the wall.
"Uh, fuck. Shit." I spat, the pain was stinging and the images kept flashing. "What was that?" Eric asked, he sounded more interested and calm then worried and disturbed. Sookie put her hand on my shoulder. 'Leave, leave, just say you feel sick. Go outside!' She was thinking urgently.
I stood and rubbed the back of my head which was starting to bleed. "I don't feel so well." I said, Eric looked at me, I didn't want him to but he did. "What is she?" He asked Bill this time who twitched his lip for a short second, then he answered truthfully. "Bill." Sookie warned, but he paid no attention. "I have too." He whispered to her.
"Well, she is similar to Sookie." Bill said, Eric stared straight at me with narrowed eyes. "Similar." He played with the word, letting it fall off of his tongue. "Yes, she can touch someone's skin and see their memories." Eric's eyes widened in surprise, it was an odd look on him.
"Wow." He breathed and a second passed of him staring, then he was next to me lifting his hand to my face. I moved out of the way. "Don't do that." I was angry, I'd have to admit that. "Well, why not?" He was amused. "Because your memories are disgusting." I muttered looking away from him.
"My memories?" He marveled over it for a few seconds backing up to stand next to Bill. "A vampire's memories?" He asked lowly. I nodded. "You can see vampire's memories." He stalked around keeping his eyes on mine.
"It seems only the ones you'd like to share, your surface memories to be exact. Or what you're thinking or feeling at that moment. When you grabbed my hand you were feeling hungry, and thinking of, I think her name was Dahlia, with blue eyes. She kind of looked like me, was about my age. Didn't smell as good as me though." I quoted him, and that made him stop.
Pam stared wide eyed and so did Bill. Sookie seemed neutral. Eric smiled then, looked from Pam to Bill. "Can I leave now?" I asked, Bill came to me then. "Eric, wants help with something." Eric walked a little closer. "If you agree I'll pay you handsomely." That changed things. If I had money, I could go farther from this damn place. Bon Temps only held awful things for me. I nodded.
"Okay, what do you need?" I asked him, he smiled. Bill moved back and put his arm around Sookie. "You'll need to help find a vampire by the name of Godric, we believe he is being held in Dallas, Texas." Eric got right down to business. "Sounds easy enough." I said sarcastically and moved my head to the side.
"You really expect a human to just walk into someone's place, that is strong enough to hold a vampire, mind you. Then release said vampire, and still expect me to walk out." I paced biting my thumbnail.
"Or, or you just don't care if I walk out? Who am I kidding of course you don't. You're a vampire." A vampire that wants something. "It's not as horrible as you think." Eric said completely calm.
When I looked at him he was sitting in a chair that resembled a throne. This place was beyond cliché. "Oh?" I said sarcastically. "It's a church." He said bluntly, I gave him a skeptical look. "A church?" I asked, he nodded. I'd take his word because I found him to be lovely. I knew he was evil, a monster. But, how could I resist him?
"Fine." I huffed and dropped my whole case. "Terrific." He purred and gave Bill a nod. He really thought of himself as a king. Bill was one of his loyal subjects. Bill took Sookie by her hand and walked to the door. I walked behind them and looked back to Eric. He was staring at me with intense interest.
When I got to the car Sookie was sighing like an old woman. "How could you Bill?" She asked. I was reluctant to get into the car. I hated being observant to fights between couples. It happened so many times while I was waiting on tables at the bar. It made me fairly uncomfortable.
"He's my sheriff Sookie, I couldn't just lie to him. I'm sorry." He sounded truly sorry. "Sook, it's okay really. Big blond vampires don't scare me." I smiled at her, she fell for my mask. I was proud of my poker face it helped me throughout my life greatly.
Sookie got into the car looking pacified. Bill smiled at me and nodded. I suppose he was thanking me. We drove home in silence, I watched as Bill would put his hand on the armrest and Sookie would place hers in his. It really seemed like love to me. I wouldn't know, I've never been in love. Therefore I wasn't sure if love really existed. But when I looked at the two old souls in the front seat I assumed it would have to be true.